The present invention relates generally to article carriers and, more particularly, to a carrier for carrying articles such as drinking cups used in concession stands and quick food outlets.
Hand held carriers of a variety of designs are in use for transporting articles through short distances. They are aimed primarily at facilitating stable transporting of articles such as liquid filled containers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,807 to Brom discloses a carrier having a central handle portion, a pair of divergent upper panels, and a pair of convergent lower panels. Each one of the upper and lower panels is provided with apertures. Each aperture in the upper panels is vertically aligned with the adjacent aperture in the lower panels to receive and hold a tapered drinking cup in a upright condition. U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,704 to Struble discloses a carrier for similar purposes having a partition with a locking means and a medial strip interposed between each upper panel and the adjacent lower panel. U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,906 to Katzenmeyer discloses a carrier provided with partition tabs which extend from the lower end of the handle into the mid portion of the carrier to be secured to the bottom panel of the carrier.
The series of carriers described above are generally made from a flat cardboard blank having suitably placed fold lines for convenient erecting of the carrier on site. The stability of the carrier before and after the carrier is loaded with articles is clearly important for some applications, and this aspect of the carrier is generally assured by providing a broad sturdy base portion as in the Struble and Katzenmeyer carriers. These carriers are heavy duty carriers which are generally designed for heavy-weight articles such as bottled drinks or glass containers. For light-weight articles such as concession cups, light and convenient panel type carriers such as the Brom carrier are preferable from the viewpoints of cost, convenience and conservation of materials.
However, the panel type carriers are not without disadvantages. The carriers in an erected, unloaded condition cannot remain standing on their own due to lack of self-supporting function. This means that a carrier during its loading process must be held by one hand while the other hand is used to load articles into the carrier. Even the carriers in a loaded condition are not sufficiently stable when they are placed on a support surface such as on a counter top, a car seat or the like. These disadvantages are not only inconvenient but also present a potentially hazardous situation, especially in crowded concession stands and fast food outlets.
What is needed, therefore, is a panel type carrier which is stable when loaded and placed on a support surface and which can remain standing on its own even before loaded.